
July 12, 2026

The Rum Sessions,
today a few white rums,
part two

Himmaleh

Himmaleh Distillery in Kashipur, in the Udham Singh Nagar district,
in the state of Uttarakhand, in northern India (Himmaleh).

La Favorite and the other agricoles rather stole the show last week. This time, however, we'll be travelling much more widely, visiting a whole range of different countries, with our noses to the wind and a taste for adventure (c’mon)... So, off to the French Caribbeans again, to France’s mainland, to Laos, to Cambodia, to Australia, to India, to South Africa, to Brazil, and naturally, to Jamaica. All of this in the most gloriously haphazard order, as usual.

Mhoba ‘Select Release White Rum’ (43%, OB for Navigate World Whisky, South Africa, 300 bottles, 2025)Mhoba ‘Select Release White Rum’ (43%, OB for Navigate World Whisky, South Africa, 300 bottles, 2025)

Mhoba ‘Select Release White Rum’ (43%, OB for Navigate World Whisky, South Africa, 300 bottles, 2025)
A South African rum for South Africa, everything should go well. Colour: white. Nose: the unmistakable earthy, deeply phenolic Mhoba profile, loaded with olives, a little manure, acetone and fresh varnish. Rather wonderfully, it all works, we do have a soft spot for this gloriously ‘funky’ style. Mouth: olives and varnish in abundance, then a touch of ultra-ripe banana, gherkins and plenty of brine. This is certainly high-ester territory, and we could almost believe ourselves in Jamaica. Finish: long, still packed with olives, varnish and brine, with the familiar salty aftertaste lingering nicely. Comments: excellent, naturally. With a little thought for the great South African pianist and early-WF-favourite Abdullah Ibrahim, aka Dollar Brand, who left us not so long ago. In any case, this simply has to be the most Jamaican of all African rums.
SGP:463 - 87 points.

WTF ‘Explosion’ (59%, Vagabond Spirit, Jamaica High Ester & Galion Grand Arôme, 150 bottles)

Double grand arôme from Jamaica and Martinique, do fasten your seatbelts, if you please. Colour: white. Nose: fruitier and rather more floral than expected, and not quite as explosive as anticipated, at least at first. Then increasingly assertive notes of graphite and brake dust begin to emerge. With water: plenty of carbon paper. Mouth (neat): immensely powerful, very salty, very liquorice-led, with heaps of smoked ham and ultra-ripe fruits. With water: now we are firmly in grand arôme territory, with masses of salmiak liberally splashed with diesel fuel. Finish: the olives return to put their signature on the whole affair. Comments: made for championship-grade daiquiris, I suppose.
SGP:563 - 86 points.

Straw Bale Rum (57.7%, OB, Maison Victors, France, +/-2025)

Straw Bale Rum (57.7%, OB, Maison Victors, France, +/-2025)
French rum, distilled near Toulouse. We believe this may well be a first for us. Colour: white. Nose: rather amusing, with aubergines, marshmallow and soft liquorice. Then geranium potting compost and a few strawberries. With water: engine oil, metal polish, in any case it’s noticeably more estery. Mouth (neat): really very good, and most original, showing plenty of ripe yellow fruits, a fine saline edge and a few capers. With water: pear and... Jamaican rum. We are still very much in the same family. Finish: a little more unruly now, with pepper, earth, juniper and salted anchovies. Comments: we really do like this rum a great deal, one that has come completely out of nowhere, at least for me as a whisky enthusiast.
SGP:652 - 84 points.

Rum de Luxe 2023 (60%, Wild Series, Australia)

From the artisanal Killik distillery in the state of Victoria. Colour: white. Nose: another rather dirty style on the nose, deeply earthy, with heaps of overripe fruits, especially longans, rambutans and jujubes. Once again, this is really rather lovely. With water: very little change. Mouth (neat): about-turn, now we are into very ripe strawberries, strawberry liqueur, indeed strawberries in every guise, mostly cooked. Most entertaining, and rather unexpected. With water: another about-turn, this time towards salinity. Let us call it salted strawberry soup or gazpacho. I know. Finish: long, rich and slightly jammy, with some rather distinctive esters. Even a little wild strawberry jam in the aftertaste. Comments: we find this both very good and highly amusing.
SGP:642 - 83 points.

Ampov ‘PJ 2023’ (55%, OB, Cambodia)

Pure cane juice rum. Colour: white. Nose: liquorice and dry-cured ham, Plasticine, ultra-ripe mangoes, natural rubber... Yet another highly original and thoroughly likeable nose. With water: fresh cane juice comes to the fore. Mouth (neat): Williams pear eau-de-vie and salted liquorice, delivered with plenty of oomph. With water: yet another excellent young rum, with a beautifully assertive cane character and, as is so often the case, plenty of salted liquorice. Finish: very long, bright, still packed with liquorice, but now joined by fresh grapefruit. Comments: yet another lovely little beast, straight from Phnom Penh. Cambodia is producing some remarkably fine rums.
SGP:642 - 84 points.

White Pearls 2024 (64%, Vagabond Spirits, Laos)

Pure cane juice rum, with six months' maturation in amphorae, now that is interesting. Colour: white. Nose: wonderfully bright and fruity, with mangoes and pink grapefruit leading the way. Precise, clean and really rather lovely, even at 64% vol. With water: plenty of banana. Mouth (neat): well, blow me down, they really are producing some beautiful pure cane juice rums in this part of the world! This time, though, the esters seem rather less exuberant than in some of the previous examples. Exotic fruit juices, honey and pears. With water: pears and bananas, plus a small glass of Chardonnay. Finish: long, with rather surprising notes of ripe vineyard peaches. Comments: very charming once again, although perhaps a little less ‘distinctive’ than the previous bottlings.
SGP:641 - 82 points.

Bielle 2023 (59.9%, Swell de Spirit, Easy Peasy, Marie-Galante, agricole)

Bielle is Bielle! (Right, S., right…) Colour: white. Nose: cane juice in all its glory, alongside fudge and toasted hazelnuts. With water: exactly the same. The hazelnut becomes even more prominent, rather surprisingly so. Mouth (neat): pure cane, with just a little lemon bringing freshness. With water: much the same again. Delicate hints of white asparagus emerge. Finish: long, razor-sharp and utterly expressive of its terroir. Grapefruit in the aftertaste. Comments: simply magnificent in its precision. We absolutely loved those hazelnut notes.
SGP:552 - 88 points.

Let us finish in Brazil...

Alba Destilaria 2024 (54%, OB, Brazil, Aguardiente de Cana)

Alba Destilaria 2024 (54%, OB, Brazil, Aguardiente de Cana)
Made from green cane juice fermented for 20 days with its bagasse, pot distilled, with dunder added during the second distillation. Colour: white. Nose: pears first, then aniseed, fennel and green apples. Once again, this is really rather beautiful, fresh and wonderfully chiselled. With water: the pears come even further to the fore. Mouth (neat): perhaps a little less precise on the palate, with some curious cider-like notes, but it remains most attractive, nicely liquorice-led, with that familiar fennel character returning. With water: no significant evolution. Finish: fairly long, becoming a little earthier. The slightly petroly salinity in the aftertaste rather suggests the influence of the dunder. Comments: this really is rather lovely, all things considered, even after the almost-superstars we just tasted.
SGP:552 - 80 points.

Actually, we feel like finishing this session properly with another wee Mhoba, what do you say?

Mhoba ‘Select White 2024’ (66.2%, Habitation Velier, South Africa)

We learn from the label, which is every bit as delightfully talkative as the bottler himself, that the ester content here reaches 839 g/hlpa. At HPDN, that would place it firmly in the <H> category. Colour: white. Nose: charcoal fire, UHU glue and almost scorched herbs de Provence. It is actually far prettier than that may sound, believe it or not, even at these almost lethal strengths. With water: oh, this is lovely. Drawing gum, charcoal, tiny lemons, seawater, carbolineum, rust remover and green olives. Nothing to discard here. Mouth (neat): goodness, we love this. Lime and green olives locked in a delightful duel. With water: and they simply carry on fighting. Finish: very long, razor-sharp, magnificent. Comments: the perfect example of a distillate that has absolutely no need for wood, indeed it might even lose something from it. Incredibly good for a humble little white rum.
SGP:563 - 89 points.

And boom, another new white rum has just landed, right on cue...

Himmaleh Spirits (56%, Habitation Velier, India, 2026)

Made from Indian sugar cane juice, pot distilled at the Himmaleh distillery in Kumaon, in the Himalayas, where Neoli rum is produced. The congeners exceed 300 g/HLPA. Colour: white. Nose: pleasantly fresh, with touches of toasted buckwheat, then tea and hints of pink grapefruit. The esters are not exactly shouting for attention at this stage, but why should we complain? As a matter of fact, we had read the label a little too quickly, those 300 grams refer to the congeners rather than the esters, which explains the rather restrained profile. The ester content itself is only 35 g/HLPA, which is actually rather modest. With water: a touch of natural rubber, fresh brioche, soft white bread and just a whisper of fennel. Mouth (neat): the toasted buckwheat returns, joined by lemon and grapefruit, all carried by a lovely natural freshness. Perhaps even a discreet hint of cucumber. With water: it opens up nicely, revealing green pears and gooseberries. Finish: nicely long, centred on green pears, with that tiny saline edge appearing right at the end. Then come, perhaps a little late, delicate touches of olives, liquorice and varnish, undoubtedly the esters making themselves heard at last. Comments: this is rather different from some of the more wham-bam new rums now appearing from all over the world, but between us, we are rather fond of both styles.
SGP:552 - 85 points.

Sorry, we really cannot go any further today, but there is every chance we shall be back with a third session of white rums very soon. In any case, all those ten little white rums were really good today. Stay tuned and stay focused.

Check the index of all rums we've tasted

The Rum Sessions, today a few white rums, part two

The Rum Sessions,
today a few white rums,
part two